Government Leaders Call for Cloud Adoption as Constituents Demand Digital Transformation

Quick Take: Leaders from government and the private sector joined Salesforce’s Public Sector Transformation Summit on Tuesday to discuss how modern, cloud-based platforms allowed organizations to adapt to the pandemic and how the cloud can help the public sector continue to modernize the delivery of government services.

Why it’s relevant: Government agencies leaned on cloud-based platforms throughout the pandemic to quickly develop tools necessary for the success of large-scale public health efforts like vaccine management, contact tracing, the distribution of financial assistance, and more. Now, agencies are looking for ways to further leverage the cloud and innovative technologies to improve their employee and constituent experience.

What they’re saying:

• “So I think it’s very important that, one, you understand your customer, but two, most importantly, you’re delivering continuously tools that you can put in the palms of their hands that allow them to make the decisions that are best for them.” – Mia Jordan, Chief Information Officer, Federal Student Aid, Department of Education

• “So again, now as the businesses are registered, we can compare information, we have access to see are we missing businesses that are registered, are there other businesses that we should find? And so now we are able to be more smart with using data that’s already available.” – Kris Floyd, Chief Operating Officer, Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority

• “[HUD’s analytics platform] provides workforce data and enables the transition from anecdote centric to an enhanced data driven approach that facilitates the analysis needed to attract, cultivate and retain a high performing, diverse, and engaged workforce.” – Monica Matthews, Director, Strategic Planning and Management of Human Capital, Department of Housing and Urban Development

• “We really had to pivot and build out a platform to help serve our businesses and communities during the pandemic and serve our team, which was working remotely and it had to work and it had to be intuitive to everybody.” – Shaun Jones, Data Manager, Wyoming Business Council

• “We looked at our available options and ended up selecting the Salesforce platform and rolled out a patient portal within a matter of weeks that integrated with seven different labs and integrated with the state’s reporting system for test results and vaccination, immunization information. And so as a result of that, it freed up our team, not only one, to be able to sleep, but also to be able to respond to patients faster and to get them their results faster.” – Tina Vidal-Duart, CDR Health CEO

• “So, what’s critical is that we are able to leverage a very agile and comprehensive technology stack that allows us to be responsive, not only to the public, but to be able to execute the mission efficiently and effectively.” – Mia Jordan, Chief Information Officer, Federal Student Aid, Department of Education

• “So from an outreach and engagement, we really had to step back and say, how do we need to educate our audiences? Who are the audiences? And what is the best way to get information to them about the program?” – Kris Floyd, Chief Operating Officer, Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority

• “As part of this administration, we’re really focused on people. We’re focused on investing in people and having the right skills, we’re focused on recruiting the best talent. And I think we know that no matter what project we’re on, people are a differentiator. I’ve worked on many ERPs with the same technology, some have been wildly successful some have not, and the differentiator to me has always been people.” – Greg Little, Deputy Comptroller for Enterprise Data and Business Performance, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Department of Defense

• “And I think it’s really critical when we talk about sort of not only the future of technology within government, but the future of how government may respond to a healthcare disaster like this in the future, because we really saw where government and a lot of respect is light years behind on technology, or is always just sort of catching up to technology.” – Tina Vidal-Duart, CDR Health CEO

Explore further: For more from the Public Sector Transformation Summit and to watch the recorded sessions, register here.